Music for All
In 2015, concert pianist Airin Efferin ’09 initiated and co-founded the Bandung Philharmonic, the first professional orchestra of Bandung, Indonesia. Efferin, who served as the orchestra’s first CEO, conceived the idea with an international standard of excellence in mind and the mission to bring high-quality classical music experiences to more people in Indonesia.
One of the first people she shared her dream with was Calvin professor of conducting Robert Nordling. “I wanted to see if he would be on board with this crazy initiative,” Efferin recalls. “He responded with capital letters: ‘YES!’” To this day Nordling remains, in Efferin’s words, “an amazingly solid partner.”
Bandung, a metropolis about the size of Chicago, is the third largest city in Indonesia, and the orchestra’s reach has been significant. In addition to performing concerts, the Bandung Philharmonic hosts an expansive music education outreach program, including a composer competition, a children’s concert series, music lessons for underprivileged children, and a newly launched scholarship program for university students.
Efferin, who now sits on the board of the Bandung Philharmonic, says founding the orchestra alongside her colleagues and with the support of partners like Nordling remains her most rewarding accomplishment to date. “It felt like you went through the dragon’s gate, you did something that was so challenging, and you conquered it.”
Today, Efferin serves as community manager at House of Piano Jakarta, the exclusive dealer of Steinway pianos in Indonesia. She says her role gives her “a bird’s eye view” of music opportunities in the country and that the “strategic position widens her circle of impact.”
“Growing up, I never even got to touch a Steinway,” Efferin says. “The first time I knew a piano could sound that amazing was at Calvin.” Increasing access to music and sharing its transformative power with others is a major focus of Efferin’s work. In her own life, formal musical training made possible not only her flourishing career but also a journey of personal healing.
Efferin, a survivor of multiple traumas, struggled with bulimia as a college student, binging and purging several times a day until two friends at Calvin came alongside her and encouraged her to get help. Of the slow and gradual process of overcoming an eating disorder, she says, “Music and piano have been a big part of that healing journey. Because of that very personal experience, I know that music can change lives.”
During her last two years at Calvin, Efferin became more focused on piano studies. Under the guidance of Dr. Hyesook Kim, she practiced four to six hours a day and won the Calvin Concerto Competition, which gave her the opportunity to perform a solo with the Calvin Orchestra.
“Being in such an intensive, immersive musical experience made me happy. It gave me more confidence in myself and in my voice. I felt that my mental health and well-being were healing. I was daily getting stronger.”
Efferin brings passion to the creative process as well; a writer and lyricist, she hopes to one day see her work performed on stage. “What I love about the creative process now is the call to vulnerability. You’re peeling away layers of yourself, and this is actually a very scary and painful process. [But] you find the truth that’s maybe hidden very deep inside yourself and, from there, think of ways to share it with the public. I had no idea when I was younger that this was what making art is about.”
Wrapped in that restorative and redemptive view of the creative process is a faith that has weathered great difficulty. “I’ve come to believe that to know Christ is to know suffering. It was in the deepest, darkest moments of my life that I think I was able to glimpse a little bit of God,” Efferin says.
To listen to Efferin’s story through her words or as her fingers glide across the keys of a piano is to connect both pain and beauty, suffering and mercy. It’s also a story that fuels her desire to continue redeeming her unique square inch of God’s world.
“As we know, this happens one person, one heart, and one precious moment at a time,” she says.